I approached my cousin’s town house in the middle of Notting Hill London in the brisk February air.

“Here we are,” My dad said, sounding relieved to be here.

It had been I long day of traveling but I was finally here. I was anticipating meeting my two youngest cousins for the first time. I felt relieved and excited as I started across the lit up night street towards the town house. I wondered to myself if my cousins and I would have anything in common. Before I could knock on the door my aunt and uncle were already waiting to greet my family and I. We quietly entered the foyer, predicting my three and six year old cousins were fast asleep considering it was past midnight. My aunt showed my sisters and I to our bedrooms that we would be staying in. I silently got ready for bed looking forward to morning time.


Early the next morning, I woke up to the loud city noises along with a knock at my door. Before I could say anything my two cousins Ellie and Jasmine had opened the door and were standing in the doorway. I could tell my cousins apart right away. Ellie was taller then Jasmine. They both had bright blue eyes and white blonde hair. Ellie and Jasmine were identical except Ellie was older.

“Time for breakfast” Ellie said from the doorway.


Before I could say anything, they disappeared down the stairway. It was cramped inside the small London kitchen with all ten of us in there. It was supposed to be big for London standards but it didn’t seem big to me. In the kitchen there were big windows giving us a view to the park out back and other townhouses. It felt awkward with my family, cousins, aunt and uncle just all sitting there in an unfamiliar place. What was I supposed to say to them? I had met them less then ten minutes ago! How ever, I felt happy I finally got a chance to meet my cousins after this long time of waiting. My uncle suggested that we do some sight seeing on this beautiful sunny day.

The London “eye” is a huge ferris wheel but with rooms instead of carts. The rooms are all glass that fit about 20 people so you can see out of it and see the view of London. I couldn’t believe my eyes when we got on the London “eye”. It was one of the most amazing views I had ever seen. It was hard to take it all in. I could see the entire city of London! A long river with many boats along with a big bridge surrounded me. In the back round was Big Ben along with many churches and storefronts. On top of all this, I also had a view of all the people walking around and all the busy morning traffic.


When we were almost half way up the “eye”, I sat with my cousins and sisters on a long wooden bench in the middle of the clear glass room. At this point as we started to get higher and higher, I became just more conscious about how high we were really getting. My cousin Ellie started talking to me about her school. She also talked to me about her ballet classes and all of her friends. I was amazed at how comfortable she felt talking to me; she acted like she had known me forever. She began asking me questions. She asked me what my school was like and about my friends. Even though she was six, she could carry on a conversation and she was easy to talk to. I couldn’t believe how much we were alike even though we had never met. By the time the scenic ride was over, I felt like I had known Ellie forever. After all the hours of traveling I knew that it was all worthwhile for meeting my cousins. This just goes to show you that family is family no matter the distance.